What is a fat quarter?
Have you heard of a fat quarter of fabric? Maybe even seen a small package of little pieces of fabric in the store labeled a ‘fat quarter bundle’. It looks pretty, but what exactly is it?
What is a fat quarter?
A fat quarter of fabric is a piece of cotton quilting fabric that is a 18″ by 20-22″ rectangle. Why 20-22″ instead of a specific number? Because fat quarters are cut from fabrics that vary in width from 40 to 44″. You can learn more about that in the video above – it’s really the best way to explain it and it’s a super quick video. You’ll even learn that yes, there is such a thing as a skinny quarter!
Why are fat quarters so popular?
Fat quarters are a great way to buy a small amount of fabric for a small project in a useful shape. A regular quarter yard of fabric cut from the bolt is a long skinny piece – 9″ by 40-44″. This ‘skinny quarter’ is not as useful for many projects, especially for cutting pieces for quilts. Fat quarters were originally invented for quilters!
Fun Facts about Fat Quarters
- There at four fat quarters in one yard of fabric.
- Fat quarters are called fat because they are more of a square than regular ‘skinny’ quarters cut off the bolt.
- There are the exact same number of square inches in a fat quarter as in a skinny quarter, they are just arranged in a different shape.
- Many quilt patterns have been developed especially to use lots of fat quarters because quilters love to collect these lovely little bits of fabric.
